


Don't Worry

by MetamorphicRocky



Series: Dadspeed [4]
Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: Dadspeed, Father-Son Relationship, Gary having dad anxiety? it's more likely than you think, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, John's mentioned, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-01 00:54:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20456405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MetamorphicRocky/pseuds/MetamorphicRocky
Summary: Little Cato gets injured during a battle, so Gary starts to doubt his abilities to take care of the kid. Little Cato isn't going to let that go on for long.





	Don't Worry

Little Cato and Gary rush behind a group of barrels, gun fire following closely after. Little Cato pants, his fingers tightening around his gun as Gary takes his larger gun off of the strap on his back. 

"This isn't good, at all," Gary says frantically.

Little Cato nods in agreement, peeking a look around the barrel behind him to see the enemy growing closer and closer. He glances at the man next to him who's focus is flitting around the warehouse room, probably looking for any close exits.

They really need a good plan.

The Ventrexian notices a clear and hidden path that would lead him right behind the men advancing on them. Okay, so he has a plan now.

"I'm gonna sneak behind and distract them, cover me," Little Cato says, immediately running off to enact his plan. 

He barely even registers Gary's panicked, "Little Cato, don't you _dare_," as he launches himself over a crate and lands without a sound behind the men. 

"Hey!" the kid yells, instantly drawing attention to himself. He takes this opportunity to shoot at two of the guys, and he's about to get another when he suddenly sees a dark shadow fall over him, then—

_Snap!_

Little Cato screams in agony, tears bursting from his eyes as searing hot and sharp pain courses through his arm. A large and strong hand squeezes his broken arm, and he cries out again as he's lifted off of the ground. He hears and feels something crunch, so he can barely register Gary's distant yelling from the white noise filling his ears. 

He forces his eyes open, his vision blurry from his tears, to see Gary standing tall, his blaster at the ready in front of him. Words are being said, but Little Cato can't tell by who because of the pure agony he's in from so much pressure being put on his very broken arm. 

Little Cato tries to take in deep breaths, but all he can do is pant. And then all of a sudden someone shouts, shots are fired, and the grip holding him up disappears, sending him hard onto the cement ground. He curls around his arm, more tears slipping down his face. 

"Little Cato! Hey, buddy, what hurts?" Gary demands, frantic yet gentle all in one. 

"Arm," he whimpers. 

Gary curses under his breath and cards a hand through Little Cato's hair. "It's gonna be okay, bud. Just hold on. Nightfall, we need...."

Little Cato feels Gary wipe away a few of his tears as everything fades away, and then he passes out.

* * *

Gary's angry. Little Cato notices it within seconds of getting out of the medpod. Actually, cross out mad; pissed is more like it. He's just standing there, his arms crossed as Nightfall puts his arm into a splint so that it can continue to heal properly. 

She can sense the tension between them, but once she finishes with his injuries, she leaves the room. So he won't get any help from her in stopping Gary from yelling at him. Great.

His dad isn't wearing his leather jacket, his hair is even more disheveled than usual, and he just looks tired. But more importantly pissed, which is not going to go well for Little Cato.

"How are you feeling?" Gary asks, stepping away from the counter he had been leaning on.

"Better," the kid responds. "The advanced healing and painkillers probably help, too."

Gary nods, and the silence that follows is very awkward, for the both of them. Little Cato decides to break it.

"I know what you're gonna say."

The blond raises an eyebrow. "And it is...?"

"That I shouldn't have done that."

"Yeah, you're right," Gary huffs. "But you don't believe that, do you?"

"It was a good plan," he mumbles.

"No, it wasn't! Why would you do something so stupid and reckless? You could have gotten killed!" Gary yells, throwing his arms out in exasperation. 

"I had it under control!" Little Cato defends, his tail bristling.

Gary rubs his hands down his face. "Oh, so you meant to break your arm? They would've killed you if you couldn't be used as leverage against me."

Little Cato doesn't have a response to that, so he just holds his splinted arm against his stomach and stays quiet. His dad is obviously waiting for him to say something, but after a few moments of silence, he sighs. 

"You're grounded. Go get some rest," Gary says, some anger still left in his voice.

Little Cato splutters, "But I–!"

Gary sends him a stern look. "I'm not arguing about this, bud. Go get rest so your arm can heal."

Little Cato hops down from the exam table with a huff and stalks past Gary, straight to his room. He slams his door shut, sliding down it until he's seated in an angry ball on the floor. Okay, yeah he got injured, but it's okay! He's still alive and kicking, just like he should be. And it was a good plan, even if it backfired.

The kid sits there angrily for at least a few hours, wondering why grounding was really necessary, until someone knocks on his door. He stands and opens it, thankfully seeing Nightfall instead of Gary. 

"Um, hey," Little Cato says.

"He's upset, you know." Damn, Nightfall did not waste any time in getting to the point. 

The boy shrugs. "Well, he's the one who grounded me and got mad," he mutters.

"You think he's mad? He's worried about you, Little Cato. He's been pacing the bridge this whole time. He won't let anyone in there," Nightfall says.

"He's worried? But my arm is healing." Little Cato is so confused right now.

Nightfall sighs deeply. "He thinks that he isn't raising you right. He blames himself for you getting hurt."

"Oh."

She hums. "Yeah. Oh."

Now that Little Cato is looking back on it, what he thought was anger was just very intense worry. And Gary looked so tired and worn out.... Oh shit, he messed up. 

"Oh noooo," Little Cato moans, covering his face with his unbroken arm. "I'm an idiot."

Nightfall pats him on the back. "You're not an idiot, you both are just new to this."

"I'm gonna go apologize," he says.

Little Cato immediately runs towards the bridge as fast as he can without jostling his arm too much, slipping around corners in his haste to make things right. He can see the doorway just ahead, so he sprints faster and then abruptly stops in the middle of the entryway. 

His dad is sitting in the pilot's chair, hunched over, his head in his hands. Little Cato can't see his face, but he knows that Gary is absolutely miserable right now. Oh, he really messed up this time. 

The kid quietly approaches Gary, but stops next to him. Cautiously, he places his good hand on the man's shoulder, which causes his dad to lift his head and panic when he sees who it is.

"Spidercat, hey," Gary says nervously. "What are you doing?"

Little Cato frowns when he sees how Gary's eyes are red, the dark circles under them just making it even worse. 

"Scoot over," he demands. 

Gary gives him a confused look but moves over anyways. The kid squeezes himself into the small spot, and it's more than a tight fit. But he doesn't care because that's not important right now, but it does make wrapping his one good arm around his dad in a hug much easier. 

The man stiffens at the contact, but Little Cato came here with a plan and will not stray from it. "I'm sorry about earlier, Gary."

"It's, uh, it's okay."

"No, I was being a butt. You were just worried about me," he urges. 

Gary sighs. "Nightfall talked to you, didn't she?" 

The kid nods. 

"I'm fine, don't worry about what she said," Gary says enthusiastically, but now that Little Cato knows him better, he can tell it's a lie from how his smile doesn't reach his eyes. Also, even more telling than that, is how he still hasn't hugged Little Cato back.

"I don't know what's banging around in your head, but you're doing a good job. Like, dad-wise. Well, at least I think so, and I think I've got some authority to give my opinion on that," Little Cato encourages nervously. 

He smiles up at Gary, who has an unreadable expression on his face. Little Cato wonders what it is until Gary just lets out a stuttering sigh and rubs at his face, his hands shaking slightly.

Oh, he's concerned now. "Are you okay?

"Oh, geez," Gary says as he pinches his eyes. "I'm just overwhelmed lately, kiddo. God, you are the last person I should be talking to about this." 

Gary laughs sardonically as he tries to recollect himself. Little Cato just sits and waits for him to speak because if Gary is gonna be there for him, he has to do the same.

"After my dad died, I had no one. It was just us my entire life, and I didn't even meet my mom until the funeral. I was too young to be looking out for parenting tips, so I have no idea what I'm doing. And today? You really could've gotten hurt worse than you did, and that would have all been on me. I don't want _my_ mistakes to hurt you.

"I've messed up everything in my life so far, and I can't let you be the next thing."

Gary makes eye contact with Little Cato, and the kid can see every single worry he has bottled up on the verge of bursting out. 

"I don't care if you've messed up before, I think all you can do is try your best," Little Cato reasons.

The blond sighs. "That's the thing. I have to be better than my best for this, and I'm doing a horrible job."

"I mean, I think you're pretty great, Dad," he says, passionately quiet. He feels Gary shudder from where he's holding him, and two arms wrap him up in a tight hug. Gary buries his face into the top of his head, allowing Little Cato to feel some tears fall. So he hugs harder. 

"If you're gonna be too busy taking care of everyone else to take care of yourself, I'm just gonna have to do it for you," the kid promises. 

His dad laughs wetly, smiling at Little Cato's smug expression. "Oh yeah? Thank you, my dear old dad," Gary jokes. 

Little Cato nods seriously. "You're welcome, my son."

They both laugh, and Gary takes this opportunity to wipe away his tears. Gary nestles his hand on top of his boy's head as they both turn their attention towards the endless space before them. They don't know what's going to happen in the future, but Little Cato knows that Gary will realize how great of a dad he is soon.

"You're still grounded, by the way."

"Yeah. That's fair."

**Author's Note:**

> if you go on my tumblr of the same name, I'm open for dadspeed prompts. I'm literally never gonna recover from ep ten because this is the third fic I'm posting in the last three days


End file.
